River City Chocolate’s treats are better than sex (almost)

by | May 4, 2016 | POLITICS

They’re delectable. They’re smooth and creamy. They’re better than sex.

They’re delectable. They’re smooth and creamy. They’re better than sex. Well maybe it’s a tie, but the sweets produced by River City Chocolate are a treat for the eyes and mouth. And worth getting fat for.

The two-year-old Midlothian company kindly delivered some sweets for us to try recently and the staff didn’t waste any time devouring every last mini-dessert. We literally went on a sugar high the rest of the day. River City Chocolate provided us with mini S’mores cakes, mini blueberry cheesecake, mini red velvet cheesecakes, and mini carrot cakes. Yeah, we’re pretty lucky.

The S’mores cake, is unlike any treat I’ve ever eaten at any restaurant or desserterie. It has a thick buttery graham cracker crust, a Belgian chocolate for the middle along with a layer of fudge brownie topped with a brûlée marshmallow-flavored meringue and drizzled with a rich dark chocolate ganache. This was my favorite.

“Its un-fucking reasonably good,” according to our Web Editor Brad Kutner. I actually purchased a whole S’more for my one-year anniversary with my boyfriend and it was so unbelievably sweet we could only share one slice.

The carrot cake had a dollop of cream cheese frosting atop a moist cake rich with ginger and cinnamon flavors. The consistency was very good. I’m not a fan of carrot cake, but this was pretty tasty. There was a hint of apples or pears, not sure if that was in there, but this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill, dry, boring cake you get at office parties. Our Web Editor was extremely obsessed with this little dessert.

River City Chocolate’s blueberry cheesecake was a beautiful and tasty little creation. It was a mini round lemony and very creamy cheesecake with blueberry swirled on top. It had a buttery crust that didn’t take away from the cheesecake and the topping was subtle, but sweet.

Red velvet cheesecake was the last dessert we had to try. We were definitely in a sugar coma by this point, but we managed to make it through. This tasty treat had an oreo or some sort of chocolate cookie crust, with an extremely rich red velvet cheesecake in the center, topped with a cream cheese frosting and cookie crumbles. This was the richest of them all and my second favorite. It’s a similar consistency with the blueberry cheesecake, but much richer.

Overall, these were the best desserts we’ve ever had. Now let’s get to the baker behind these delicious treats: Ed Conroy.

Conroy has been whipping up chocolate cakes, New York style cheesecake, fruit tarts, carrot cakes, brownies, pies, and course, the delicious River City S’more in his production facility off Hull Street in Midlothian since 2014.

Tired of the 9 to 5 grind as an underwriter, The Brooklyn native wanted to set out on his own to conquer an endeavor that he was passionate about.

“I was just over it, I’m not a cubicle kind of guy,” Conroy said. “I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself into doing something I didn’t like the rest of my life.”

With that drive, the background in baking and the help of his mother Joan, Conroy was able to get River City Chocolate off the ground.

“A large portion of my family are either chefs, pastry chefs, line cooks, cake decorators…so we got a lot of people in the family that are pretty skilled in the way of baking,” he said. “It’s something I always enjoyed. I did it with my grandmother when I was a kid.”

All of Conroy’s cheesecakes are 9″ and serve 12-14 people. The bite-size cheesecakes are 3 inches. Most of the cheesecakes cost in the mid-30s range for the 9″, but depending on what you order, prices can vary. The River City S’more serves 12-24 people and costs $29.99.

Conroy takes great pride in making desserts that aren’t just something you can order from just anywhere.

“Being from New York, I grew up making cheesecakes,” he said. “We customize it a little bit as far as mixing it between a New York-style cheesecake and a California cheesecake which is essentially just a creamier version of it, some of the ingredients are a little bit different. But we can make pretty much any flavor cheesecake you want, any kind, any style.”

Most recently, the company make a chamomile-infused mango cheesecake for the Westwood Club.

Most of Conroy’s clients are restaurants, country clubs and hotels. He’s worked with Julep’s, Hermitage Country Club, Westwood Club, Sam Miller’s, Havana 59, and Legend’s.

He works with some weekly and others just call when they need desserts for a party here and there.

Conroy said his company can handle parties or functions from 10 people up to 600.

“When I deal with places like the Omni {Hotel}, I do parties for 500,” he said. “We did the VCU basketball party at the Omni which was another 450-500 people. I make things tailored special to your restaurant or to your hotel. “I go in with the intention saying ‘hey, what do you need, not this is what I sell.”

Conroy said his goal is to grow the business so he can add on a couple employees to help out out the facility so that he can focus on the research and development side of the business.

Whatever his plans are, we hope he sticks around so we can be the taste-testers of all his future recipes!

Amy David

Amy David

Amy David was the Web Editor for RVAMag.com from May 2015 until September 2018. She covered craft beer, food, music, art and more. She's been a journalist since 2010 and attended Radford University. She enjoys dogs, beer, tacos, and Bob's Burgers references.




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